Thor's Day Hero: David Byrne

I know something you don't, well, now you do. Thor's Day Heroes is kind of coming to a close! Remember, I've been writing these in the past, in fact LEGO Thursdays are still posting as I type this! Anyway, I've already got something new lined up to take the Thursday slot a few weeks from now, you know me, wheels within wheels.

But what about the smiling 'Ken' doll up top? Well if you know who it is, you don't need to ask, if you don't know it's none other than artist and musician David Byrne. I don't discount his early work as lead singer of the Talking Heads by any means but he has come a very long way since those days. His solo work is amazingly diverse and having seen him a few times in concert I gotta say he puts on one heck of a show. His music is one of those background tracks that I can watch through my own timeline over the last twenty years or so. Kind of neat when you think about it. Anyway, here's your bathroom key David, enjoy your stay with the Thor's Day Heroes!

Thor's Day Hero: Geddy Lee

It's hard to obtain "living legend" status in the music world today, but I can't think of any other place to put Geddy Lee of Rush. My favorite band, Rush, is interesting because there's no middle ground with them; you either love 'em or hate 'em. I've seen them in concert more than any other band, which is to say, quite a bit. Roaring through the cosmos, the Thor's Day Heroes pick up steam and new members all the time. Such an endeavor requires quite the soundtrack, and who better to have along for that than Geddy Lee.

Hammer of Heaven

In advance of Friday's premiere of the much anticipated Avengers movie, The Sword have announced the release of "Hammer Of Heaven," an early track dating back to 2003 that was not included on Age Of Winters, which the band submitted for inclusion on the Avengers soundtrack album. -Press Release

Having only just discovered The Sword over the last five years or so they have quickly moved into my top ten all-time favorite bands. I reverently guard my vaunted top ten list so that's saying something.

So there's a newly released track, it's good, I like it quite a bit, and it's nice to hear something more akin to their heavier beginnings. Plus, the subject matter is just, ahem, godly. Enjoy!

Holiday Loot Haul

I had said that this moment was coming, and that moment is upon us my friends...the holiday loot wrap up! Thanks to the amazing Amazon wish list, the giving gifts to Mik season is much easier. It may take some of the fun out of it but when you have hobbies as specific as ours any ole random present won't do! That being said, I was still in store for many a surprise this holiday season, one of which I'm wearing at the big family Christmas dinner party over yonder to the left. All right, enough, on to the loot.


Legends of Anglerre is one of those books I've had on my wish list forever and just never saw myself actually getting. It's also one of those books I kind of need because we do so much with it, especially as of late. I get by with the PDF, but for roleplaying books I kind of prefer, well, a book. Needless to say, I was very happy to pick that one up. Next up is the Thundarr DVD boxed set. Thundarr! As a kid I loved Thundarr and as an adult gamer now there are so many nuggets and gems to extract from it, especially for post-apocalyptic settings. If you don't know about the world of Thundarr, Lords of Light! Get to it!

Assassin's Creed Revelations follows suit and since I just conquered all of Skyrim, it's pretty good timing. Having played a little bit so far though I can see why it got lackluster reviews, it's more of the same without anything new. Mind you, if you loved the previous Assassin's Creed games like I have, then it's no problem.

I got a mandolin book as well, though mandolin playing isn't something I blog about it is something that I do from time to time, and this book in particular has a bit of a personal connection as well, so I was quite happy to unwrap this one. I also got a movie, the New World. In this day of Netflix and cable and what-not it takes quite a bit for me to want to permanently add a movie to the collection, but this is one of those movies.



My wardrobe grew as well, including a Captain America shirt, a Green Lantern shirt (whose tag claims it glows in the dark), and a rockin' San Fransisco Giants ball hat. Finally would be a pair of Two Hour Wargames 5150 rulebooks, the pseudo-rpg/narrative skirmish game New Beginnings and the campaign/scenario book First Contact. New Beginnings at first glance looks incredibly detailed and is easily over two hundred pages. It seems to have a little bit of everything in it so you can make your games as detailed as you want. First Contact is basically a set of scenarios designed around a central narrative; rebels on Mars breaking away from their Earth benefactors. For what it is it looks cool.

That's it for the loot wrap up, which means this year is fast coming to a close. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, the third annual Year in Review. Until then, enjoy!

Don't Drop Your Hammer

I haven't had a post or mention of one of my favorite bands, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets in some time. A chance comment by their lead singer the other day over on the Minions of the Monster Master prompted me to rectify this.

The above video is rather new for a song that's not quite so new. Nonetheless, it's a great song and I'm glad it's now got a great video to go along with it, so enjoy!


Here's a bonus still shot of the cargo hauler

Mik's Final Moment of Zen, pt. 20

This is Major Mik to Ground Control...

"I hope you have enjoyed these twenty moments of Zen, I think my spaceship knows which way to go."

Happy Festivus!

The Crew of the Swollen Goat; AE Bounty Pirates

No horizon is obscured by the clouds. Settlements make nary a sound. And there were black birds singing and fish floating on the sea. While the bells of the buoys all rang in harmony.

Bury your treasure, burn your crops,
Black water rising and it ain't gonna stop.

The governor he been long gone, anchor dropped on his front lawn. Build a keep and dig a moat, the return of the Swollen Goat. Can you hear the fife and drums, barnacles barking at the sun. Ain't no chance, so don't you try, now everybody got to die. -Clutch

Large Pirate Crew
Options: dropped one green unit, one unit xp level upgrade
Dirty Trick: Stand Your Ground


El Sobrante, Arges Veteran Captain
M2, RC+4, CC5, A6, S3, DR5, W3
Gear: Slugthrower rifle, armored suit, sword
Skills: Blooded Warrior, Beserk, Unstoppable


Crash Wingo, Human Veteran Quartermaster
M3, RC+4, CC3, A4, S3, DR4, W2
Gear: Slugthrower long rifle, cybernetic arms and eyes
Skills: Hunter (Human), Steady Hands, Nightvision, Aim


Naos Corsairs, Regular
Skills: Hunter (Phact), Sure-footed


M3, RC+5, CC3, A2(4), S3, DR4, W1
Heavy Melee Weapon and Personal Energy Screen

M3, RC+5, CC3, A3, S3, DR4, W1
Equipment: Pike and Light Armored Suit

M3, RC+5, CC3, A2, S3, DR4, W1
Mono-wire edged sword


Human Crewman, Green
M3, RC+5, CC2, A2, S2, DR3, W1
Gear: Electrolaser pistols, random gear choice at game start
Skills: Apathetic


Chort Crewman, Green
M4, RC+5, CC2, A2, S2, DR3, W1
Gear: Electrolaser pistols, random gear choice at game start
Skills: Craven, Small Stature

Aaahoo...Space Wolves of Minos!

I almost outsmarted myself here. I'm working up doing my "last great Space Marine project", if you haven't voted on a color scheme, don't forget! Well I've been busy, but the other night I had some free time so I started putting together my first two tactical squads as well as a couple of HQ choices. I was thinking of my Death Spectres list from way back and as I was clipping and trimming all these cool Space Wolf bits I was thinking to myself how unfortunate it was I wasn't using the Wolves codex. They had cool things like sagas, solo heroes on the battlefield, specialized scout units, cool things like frostblades and rune armor, the list went on and on.

The fluff I'm working up for this chapter was a very "frozen death world" kind of thing to boot. That's where I almost outsmarted myself. Instead of sticking to the original plan, grudgingly I might add, I made the obvious choice that it's my army and I can do whatever the heck I want!

So there you go, another "counts as" Space Marine army. I'll get around to working up my own background and organization, but the easy part is done, the Space Wolf codex doesn't need to be reinvented. I will have to get kind of creative with their "Imperial Guard" allies, which will take more work, but I'll worry about that later. For now, I've got to get painting! Enjoy some very rough WIP shots below, still need to pick up some resin bases, as well as embossed tactical shoulder pads and the awesome custom-made chapter icon pads too!





Basically I'm making a hybrid of Space Wolf and Dark Angel with a little pinch of Chaos thrown into the mix for an extra kick. The hooded Dark Angel heads will be prevalent throughout, as well as the more characterful Space Wolf elements. The Chaos bits will be more subtle and consist of things like the belt-fed bolters, spiky-kneepad lower legs, and the like.


The late, great Warren Zevon

Warp Riders Releases Today

Today is the release of The Sword's third album, Warp Riders. If you haven't checked these guys out, do so immediately. Their first two albums (Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth) are incredibly good and the third promises to keep going strong. For a new-to-the-scene "hard rock American underground" sound, these guys are, excuse the pun, rockin'. Below is a video of one of the songs (Tres Brujas) off the new album. Enjoy!

Vacation: LEGO

This is going to be the first in a series of photographs I took while on my recent vacation. I've got them clumped into themes, and this first one is one of my faves, LEGO! I managed to find a LEGO store in New Jersey so a lot of these are from there, I also got some more collectible figs but later for that. The rest of the LEGO pics are from the massive Toys R Us in Times Square.


A great Sea Serpent diorama in Toys R Us


These really were as massive as they look, at least 15' tall



An American icon, gifted by the French, recreated in blocks from Denmark


This one and the following pics are all from the LEGO store. All along the walls they had these little alcoves that had cool mini-dioramas in each, they circled the entire store. I took a bunch of pics, but these only scratched the surface.


Stretch limo wedding


Bunnies and a big ole carrot


Butterfly garden


A movie theater set loaded with all kinds o' figs


Not a diorama, but some awesome new Space Police sets


Pigs (more than) Three Different Ones

Big man, pig man
Ha, ha, charade you are
You well heeled big wheel
Ha, ha, charade you are
And when your hand is on your heart
You're nearly a good laugh
Almost a joker
With your head down in the pig bin
Saying 'Keep on digging'
Pig stain on your fat chin
What do you hope to find
Down in the pig mine?
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry
-Pink Floyd

Sumo!

Ride the Lightning: Wargear of Veteran Landes

As I'm coming to a close with my Storm Wardens Project contribution, I thought I'd share a little more fluff concerning Veteran Landes and his wargear. I've had a lot of fun with this fig, which is something I don't usually say, nor do I usually say I'm learning a little bit more about myself as a painter along the way, which is exactly what's going on. To say the team I'm working with are professionals is no exaggeration, I hope the little personality I inject into the model will go a long way to shorten the gap between my contribution and the rest of the army.

Landes and the Techmarines of the Storm Wardens chapter have grown close over the decades. It could have something to do with the fine recipe for Stormhårn he brought with him from his home planet of Sacris, Stormhårn being an extremely potent drink that is inexorably able to have a slight intoxicating effect on the physique of a Space Marine despite their redundant purifying organs. To this end, the Techmarines help maintain Landes' armor and assist with any personal requests he has along the way. It is joked that if Landes ever takes command of his own company he won't need to be gifted with a venerable suit of artificer armor because he'll already be wearing it! He donned his right shoulder pauldron upon his induction into the command squad. This armor plating has ablative reactive layers like most marine armor but has also been crafted with a stylized motif of a lightning storm, reminiscent of his home planet. "Ride the lightning!" is a battlecry most often heard by Landes himself, or by squads that have followed him into battle.


This is the inspiration I used for his shoulder pad, a Jaxville Zeus

Upon induction to the command squads, veteran troopers are given ample freedom to choose their wargear. Landes caused a few raised eyebrows when he took his first chainsword instead of the power fist he had in the assault company. This chainsword, named the Ragnarökkr, was given to Landes when he became the sergeant of his first tactical squad. He took it with him to the assault company, and as sergeant there, he utilized the mighty power fist, but always kept the Ragnarökkr sheathed at his side. It has seen its way through countless battles and even more foes than can be accounted for, which its beaten and pitted surface can attest to. Vowing never to drop his chain-blade in battle, Landes has attached it to his forearm by means of a heavy chain, the very chain he brought with him from the surface of Sacris. It is said this is a length of the chain from his coming-of-age ceremony where his native tribe had tethered him to an adolescent Fen-croc in the pit of a swamp cave where he was forced to battle his way out. His belt pouches are said to be the leather of the same beast.

The induction rate of power distribution is said to be marginally more efficient in the older backpacks that were in use during the transition between the MkVI Corvus armor and the MkVII Aquila armor. Landes has acquired one of these older packs and currently makes use of it. It is slowly being augmented to peak performance by his fellow Techpriests.

"No, I swear it, I had seen it with me own eyes!", the weathered Guardsman of the 577th put down his tankard and took a long look at his fellow soldiers for effect, it was a poor effort, but one not lost on their dulled wits. He continued his tale, "I heard the whine of the giant's plasma pistol piercing the mortar shells, and I knows what was gonna happen next, BLAM! self-destruct0! So I hit the dirt, duck and cover you know. The next thing I seen was he popped the pistol's breach like on one of our hunting rifles back homeworld and the whole core popped out, hissing, steaming, and sounding ready to blow! He caught it with his other hands and threw it like a grenade, it swallowed four of the renegades manning the autocannon nest in plasma flames meltin' 'em down to their boots!" The trooper was met with derision and snide remarks, one fellow even pushed back and went to find conversation elsewhere, but the drunken storyteller wouldn't be deterred.

"He stood there, bullets bouncing off his armor and I lay like an idjit in the mud. The renegades thought he was unarmed and charged him. He reached in his belt pouch and pulled out a magazine for a bolt pistol, like what Commissar Hades carries, flipped his plasma pistol's breach closed, and slammed in the darn mag sticking out the top where the power core used to be. Them renegades had no idea as he tore into them BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!" The trooper emphasized each bolter round with a slam of his tankard, sloshing drink all over the table. "Hot bolter brass rained down, sizzling in the mud all around me, I ain't never seen nothing like it!" The trooper took the rest of his tankard in one gulp, put the now empty vessel on the table, and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Then he turned to me, right at me, I'll never forget it 'cause he actually spoke to me and said, 'There's battle to be had boy, out of the mud with you!', as he charged off it started to rain and I swears I heard the crack of thunder as he bellowed, "RIDE THE LIGHTNING!"

Dog Men to the Deck

Quick post of a couple of Critical Mass Games' Protolene Khanates



Aargh, my primer went all "fuzzy" on me! No! I was able to salvage these as best as I could, but as you can see from these unflattering pics, especially on the backs of the legs, I ended up losing a lot of smoothness and detail. This pair o' figs came courtesy some extras Flounder tossed my way, so thanks again! I love them, they've got "sci-fi" written all over them, the carapace armor, the fancy rifles, being uplifted canines...they're just plain cool.

No horizon is obscured by the clouds. Settlements make nary a sound.
And there were black birds singing and fish floating on the sea.
While the bells of the buoys all rang in harmony.

Bury your treasure, burn your crops,
Black water rising and it ain't gonna stop.

The governor he been long gone, anchor dropped on his front lawn.
Build a keep and dig a moat, the return of the Swollen Goat.
Can you hear the fife and drums, barnacles barking at the sun.
Ain't no chance, so don't you try, now everybody got to die.

Bury your treasure, burn your crops,
Black water rising and it ain't gonna stop.

WE DO NOT DESIRE TRIBUTES.
WE DESIRE INFORMATION.
WE SEEK THE WORM DRINK WHO HAS LATELY BETRAYED HIS NATION

Albatross on your neck and a hooker on the shore,
Dog-men to the deck, there's a hooker on the

IN THE WAKE OF THE SWOLLEN GOAT

Bury your treasure, burn your crops,
Black water rising and it ain't gonna stop.

-Clutch: In the Wake of the Swollen Goat